As millions of people suffer from various types of chronic pain, they are seeking ways to get relief. Modern medicine may be able to provide some relief, but so too can some complementary therapies. It’s important for those who are helping to provide chronic pain management to be aware of the complementary therapies in order to provide their patients with the best care options to help meet their needs.
A study published in the October 2025 issue of the journal Current Opinion in Anaesthesiology reports on the rise in use of integrative medicine over a 20-year period [1]. Their review considered the rise in integrative medicine practices spanning from 2002 through 2022, where they found that using at least one integrative medicine approach increased from over 19% to nearly 37%. The issue at hand is the importance of those helping with chronic pain management needing to know about the types of integrative treatments, including their risks and benefits.
While there are some integrative medicine approaches that may provide relief, they note that there are others that come with risks. It’s crucial that people be made aware of this, so they can choose wisely which ones they want to try. For example, they cite chiropractic manipulation and acupuncture as higher-risk modalities. Those who are aware of the benefits and risks will be able to choose ones that are going to be beneficial and help save their patients’ time, money, and possible health risk outcomes. They should make themselves aware of the variety of modalities available so they can discuss them with those for whom they provide pain management.
In a prior study published in the journal Cureus, researchers report on the benefits of integrative medicine in the management of chronic pain [2]. Some of the modalities they report on in regard to addressing chronic pain include massage therapy, acupuncture, yoga, and chiropractic manipulations. They conclude that massage therapy showed decreased short-term pain and that there is significant evidence that it is an adequate replacement for the pharmaceutical management of chronic pain. They also report that acupuncture provides beneficial results for chronic pain, and that yoga is significantly effective when treating chronic neck pain, and that combining yoga and physical therapy shows a significant reduction in chronic pain in general. Their study didn’t include the risks associated with any of the modalities, if there were any.
Spending time getting familiar with the research that has been done on integrative medicine modalities can go a long way toward helping to provide suggestions to help those with chronic pain. Knowing the risks of each modality can be beneficial in knowing which will be best suited for each person.
This article was originally published on Confronting Chronic Pain by Dr. Steven Richeimer.
References
- Current Opinion in Anaesthesiology. Integrative medicine for chronic pain management: a narrative review. October 2025. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40910627/
Cureus. The Benefits of Integrative Medicine in the Management of Chronic Pain. October 2022. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9635890/
